Syrian President Bashar Al Assad is planning a round of high ranking official appointments, according to the Arab paper Al Hiyat, cited by Haaretz on Friday.

In the coming weeks Assad is planning to make changes in several government offices: ministers, CEO's, advisors and senior security members. According to sources in Damascus, the changes will have far reaching effects.

They said that some 400 candidates will be eligible for the positions. However, as opposed to previous appointments, some of the candidates are not Baath party members. This will be the largest round of political appointments since Bashar Assad took the throne last June, following the death of his father Hafez Assad.

There have been reports of a ministerial reshuffle in which Foreign Minister Farouq Shara would replace the incumbent Mustafa Miro as prime minister – Albawaba.com